# Movies,plays, or TV shows in which an actor comes back to play a completely different character **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 14, 2021, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-plays-or-tv-shows-in-which-an-actor-comes-back-to-play-a-completely-different-character/942070 "2021-05-14T13:00:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2021, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-plays-or-tv-shows-in-which-an-actor-comes-back-to-play-a-completely-different-character/942070/41 "2021-05-14T20:34:28Z")
> [@veryfrank](#): > > Suranne Jones played the Mona Lisa on two episodes of The Sarah Jane Adventures and then two years later was Idris in “The Doctor’s Wife” Bradley Walsh similarly played an evil entity that appeared in various guises as a clown (named Odd Bob), a ringmaster (named Elijah Spellman) and the Pied Piper in _The Sarah Jane Adventures_, more recently playing a Companion in the main DW series. Odd Bob was creepy af, as I remember it - not just because he was a clown but the accent, quiet but intense mode of speaking and strange head tilt. [![](http://www.thedoctorwhosite.co.uk/pictures/sja/s2ep4/1.jpg) ](http://www.thedoctorwhosite.co.uk/pictures/sja/s2ep4/1.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![xizor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xizor/32/102_2.png) [@xizor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xizor)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2021, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-plays-or-tv-shows-in-which-an-actor-comes-back-to-play-a-completely-different-character/942070/42 "2021-05-14T21:52:39Z")
[Joseph C. Phillips](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_C._Phillips) first played a date of the oldest daughter on the Cosby Show, then came back a few seasons later as the husband of the next oldest daughter (Lisa Bonet) ---
**Author:** ![dorvann](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/df705f/32.png) [@dorvann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dorvann)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2021, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-plays-or-tv-shows-in-which-an-actor-comes-back-to-play-a-completely-different-character/942070/43 "2021-05-14T21:54:11Z")
Speaking of a strange one from _Law & Order_ ---- Jeremy Sisto played lawyer Clint Glover in the last episode of season 17 only to return in the first episode of season 18 as Det. Cyrus “Lupes” Lupo. ---
**Author:** ![anny\_m](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/96bed5/32.png) [@anny\_m](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/anny_m)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2021, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-plays-or-tv-shows-in-which-an-actor-comes-back-to-play-a-completely-different-character/942070/44 "2021-05-14T22:45:34Z")
Another Law & Order one – Michael Imperioli had a part in a 1996 episode, and came back in 2006 to play Det. Nick Falco in several episodes. To hijack the thread a bit, Law & Order had so many actors in guest roles who played continuing characters on The Sopranos that the A&E network once had a L&O marathon where each episode included a Sopranos actor. ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2021, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-plays-or-tv-shows-in-which-an-actor-comes-back-to-play-a-completely-different-character/942070/45 "2021-05-15T18:15:18Z")
Jonathan Pryce appeared in a 1981 production of Harold Pinter’s _The Caretaker_ as Mick, then in a 2012 production as Davies. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2021, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-plays-or-tv-shows-in-which-an-actor-comes-back-to-play-a-completely-different-character/942070/46 "2021-05-15T19:16:42Z")
_Midsomer Murders_ has too many names to list. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2021, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-plays-or-tv-shows-in-which-an-actor-comes-back-to-play-a-completely-different-character/942070/47 "2021-05-15T20:00:28Z")
So do the original _ **Mission: Impossible** _ and _ **Hawaii Five-O** _. ---
**Author:** ![gdave](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gdave/32/3683_2.png) [@gdave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gdave)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2021, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-plays-or-tv-shows-in-which-an-actor-comes-back-to-play-a-completely-different-character/942070/48 "2021-05-15T20:21:29Z")
I don’t think this is quite what the OP is looking for, but A&E’s _Nero Wolfe_ series had two regular characters, Maury Chaykin as Nero Wolfe and Timothy Hutton as Archie Goodwin, a half dozen actors playing recurring characters, and then a dozen or so actors in a repertory pool. The repertory actors each appeared in several episodes, each time as a different one-off character. A bit more on-point for the OP, Saul Rubinek played a one-off character in the pilot, then came back in several episodes as a different recurring character. Kari Matchett played both a recurring character, Lily Rowan, Archie Goodwin’s on-and-off girlfriend, and several one-off characters, often women who had or feigned a romantic interest in Archie. She even played Lily Rowan and a different one-off character in the same episode! (Total tangent: In a nice bit of stunt casting, she also played the ex-wife of Timothy Hutton’s character in a couple of episodes of the later series, _Leverage_). ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2021, 12:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-plays-or-tv-shows-in-which-an-actor-comes-back-to-play-a-completely-different-character/942070/49 "2021-05-16T12:40:01Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > Tim Choate played Zathrus in _Babylon 5_ . Later he played other characters, all named Zathras. One of us is confused… I thought the other characters were named “Zathras” and “Zathras”, not “Zathras”. But if we’re talking Babylon 5, then the winner has to be Wayne Alexander, who played at least five different characters ove r the course of the show, none of whom were “twin brothers” or anything like that. And another science fiction one, with major roles: Richard Hatch played Apollo in the original Battlestar Galactica, then came back to play Tom Zarek in the 2003 version. ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2021, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-plays-or-tv-shows-in-which-an-actor-comes-back-to-play-a-completely-different-character/942070/50 "2021-05-16T14:52:51Z")
“Zathras have very sad life. Probably have very sad death. But, at least there is symmetry.” ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2021, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-plays-or-tv-shows-in-which-an-actor-comes-back-to-play-a-completely-different-character/942070/51 "2021-05-16T15:04:11Z")
Of course, there are always actors like Janos Prohaska… _Prohaska also appeared in multiple roles on such TV series as [The Outer Limits](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Outer_Limits_(1963_TV_series)) , [Bewitched](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bewitched) , [I Dream of Jeannie](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Dream_of_Jeannie) , [Lost in Space](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lost_in_Space) , and a few episodes of [Gilligan’s Island](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gilligan%27s_Island) , where he plays a [gorilla](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gorilla). On NBC-TV’s [Star Trek](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_Trek:_The_Original_Series) his turns as the Horta in Star Trek’ s “[The Devil in the Dark](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Devil_in_the_Dark)”, and the Mugato (credited, curiously enough, as the Gumato) in “[A Private Little War](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Private_Little_War_(TOS_episode))” are the best known of these._ ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2021, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-plays-or-tv-shows-in-which-an-actor-comes-back-to-play-a-completely-different-character/942070/52 "2021-05-16T16:51:21Z")
Technically it hasn’t happened yet, but Patrick Stewart in the 1984 Dune movie plays Gurney Halleck, while in the 2021 version will play the Emperor. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2021, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-plays-or-tv-shows-in-which-an-actor-comes-back-to-play-a-completely-different-character/942070/53 "2021-05-16T17:06:19Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > And another science fiction one, with major roles: Richard Hatch played Apollo in the original Battlestar Galactica, then came back to play Tom Zarek in the 2003 version. John Wesley Shipp played Barry “The Flash” Allen in the ‘90s TV show — and, decades later, they had him field a recurring role as Barry‘s wrongfully-convicted physician father _Henry_ Allen in the version that’s on now; and, since it’s **The Flash** , with guys so fast they can zoom back in time or vibrate over to parallel timelines, they eventually (a) had Shipp suit back up as his ‘90s incarnation, and also (b) had him suit up as another world’s Jay Garrick. ---
**Author:** ![whitetho](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whitetho/32/1059_2.png) [@whitetho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whitetho)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2021, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-plays-or-tv-shows-in-which-an-actor-comes-back-to-play-a-completely-different-character/942070/54 "2021-05-16T17:26:10Z")
_Columbo_ had multiple actors who reappeared as different characters. Patrick McGoohan was the most prolific, as four different muderers on his appearances. > **[Repeat Offenders](https://columbo.fandom.com/wiki/Repeat_Offenders)** > > The following is a list of actors who appeared on Columbo multiple times, or as we like to call them, Repeat Offenders. Jack Cassidy appeared as a Columbo killer three times, making his debut in the first episode of the series, Murder by the Book.... ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2021, 10:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-plays-or-tv-shows-in-which-an-actor-comes-back-to-play-a-completely-different-character/942070/55 "2021-05-17T10:01:05Z")
Suzie Plakson played Ambassador K’Ehleyr and Dr. Selar in Star Trek: TNG, and then played a Female Q on ST: Voyager and an Andorian on ST: Enterprise. ---
**Author:** ![TCMF-2L](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tcmf-2l/32/16553_2.png) [@TCMF-2L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TCMF-2L)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2021, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-plays-or-tv-shows-in-which-an-actor-comes-back-to-play-a-completely-different-character/942070/56 "2021-05-17T13:22:17Z")
Not sure whether this counts but… Actor John Mahoney played a songwriter in an episode of **Cheers**. He played the father of Frasier (and Niles) Crane in the spin off **Frasier**. TCMF-2L ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2021, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-plays-or-tv-shows-in-which-an-actor-comes-back-to-play-a-completely-different-character/942070/57 "2021-05-17T14:03:47Z")
NYPD had Currie Graham play a guy who got arrested and later he played the leader of the 15th Det squad ---
**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2021, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-plays-or-tv-shows-in-which-an-actor-comes-back-to-play-a-completely-different-character/942070/58 "2021-05-17T14:22:27Z")
Dean Cain played Clark Kent in _Lois & Clark_ and later Jeremiah Danvers (Kara’s adoptive father) on _Supergirl_. On _Gunsmoke_, Ken Curtis played a few different characters in several episodes before he started to play Festus. Buck Taylor appeared in one episode playing a different character before he started to play Newly. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2021, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-plays-or-tv-shows-in-which-an-actor-comes-back-to-play-a-completely-different-character/942070/59 "2021-05-17T14:32:29Z")
> [@bibliophage](#): > > Dean Cain played Clark Kent in _Lois & Clark_ and later Jeremiah Danvers (Kara’s adoptive father) on _Supergirl_ . Similarly, Helen Slater played Supergirl in the 1984 film, and later Eliza Danvers (Kara’s adoptive mother) in the television series. Clever casting there. Teri Hatcher (who played Lois against Cain’s Clark) also had a guest villain role in the _Supergirl_ series. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2021, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-plays-or-tv-shows-in-which-an-actor-comes-back-to-play-a-completely-different-character/942070/60 "2021-05-17T15:16:18Z")
Charlton Heston played Taylor, the lead character in the 1968 version of _Planet of the Apes_. He played Zaius in the 2001 remake. (Linda Harrison, who played Nova in the original, also had a cameo appearance in the remake.) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-plays-or-tv-shows-in-which-an-actor-comes-back-to-play-a-completely-different-character/942070.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-plays-or-tv-shows-in-which-an-actor-comes-back-to-play-a-completely-different-character/942070.md?page=4)